


Lessons in Love

by Justadeangirl67



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fraternity, Angst with a Happy Ending, Artist Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes Is a Good Bro, F/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Reader-Insert, Sweet dumb Stevie, The one in which Steve is a dumb, he is figures it out eventually, just go read it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-10 22:56:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18417587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justadeangirl67/pseuds/Justadeangirl67
Summary: Steve is an idiot. A big dumb sweet idiot.





	Lessons in Love

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Angst with a happy ending. Stevie being dumb and a little bit of a hoe. Sorry, not sorry. Steve is a sweet dumb idiot, so it makes up for it. 
> 
> A/N: This is for Maya’s WTF challenge @prettyyoungtragedy. Congrats bean bean! My prompt was College AU with sweet fratboy Stevie. It was going to be a 10 part series, but let’s be real. I don’t need another series. So it’s an annoyingly long one-shot. I’m sorry it’s so long. It’s chock-full of mutual pining and misunderstandings, which is just my fave. Thankful for this beautiful gem @teamcap4bucky she fixed my moodboard. 
> 
> ***My fics are not to be saved or posted on any other sites without my written permission. Reblogs are my jam. Thanks!***

If someone had told you that Steve Rogers would be the reason you were hiding in the corner of a fraternity party to avoid heartache, you probably would have laughed in their face. There was no way that the Steve you were hopelessly foolishly in love with would be the one thing that completely destroyed your heart. Nevertheless, there you sat watching him fawn all over your roommate like she was the best thing to ever grace this Earth.

Mere mortals couldn’t compare to Sharon Carter.

No one could really blame him. Sharon was precisely the type of girl you would expect Steve to end up with. She was beautiful. Tall. Blond. Green eyes. Legs for days.

On top of that, she was insanely smart and remarkably kind. Why wouldn’t Steve want to be with her? She was everything a gorgeous guy like Steve Rogers would want. It didn’t hurt that she was also pre-law and had a job lined up at her family’s law practice for the moment she graduated.

You often wondered how they would react if they knew how much it pained you to see the two of them together. If Steve and Sharon both knew how stupidly in love with him, you are. Would they stop being so affectionate in front of you? Would they begin to hate you? Would they never speak to you again because you broke some unspoken best friend code that only seems to matter in moments like these? Would they look at you with pity?

No. They would continue being them. They would act as if nothing had changed because that was the kind of perfect, incredible people they were.

Steve’s eyes fell on yours, and his face glowed the second your eyes connected as if you were the only person in the room and the pretty blond in front of him wasn’t doing all she could to keep his attention. Sharon could have been telling him she was running away with Bucky to get married, and he wouldn’t have heard it any of it. Why did he always have to look at you like that? That little smile and those pretty blue eyes. He made you weak, and you hated yourself for allowing him to have that control over you. If only he understood every time he smiled at you like that, it felt like you’re drowning with no way to get to the surface.

A large part of your heart was begging you to walk away from him and never look back. You had an opportunity to study in Boston for your masters, and that bitter, jealous piece heart was urging you to take it. It would give you the chance to escape the heartache that comes from loving Steve. It could give you a chance to breathe without this terrible weight sitting on your chest and suffocating you, but if you left, without a doubt, you would come running right back. When you tried to broach the idea with Steve, you understood there was no point in attempting to leave.

_“Why can’t you do your masters here?”_

_“Steve…” you whined._

_“Okay, okay. Go if you have to. I will hate every second you are gone, but I’ll be right here waiting for you to come back. You know that.”_

_“What if I didn’t come back?”_

_“I’d come get you and drag you back to Brooklyn. It’s where you belong, and you know it. How am I supposed to live without you? Impossible!”_

Why did he have to say things like that? It always left you feeling confused and utterly crushed. No matter how hard you tried to break away from him, Steve held your heart, and you couldn't very well live without your heart now, could you?

“Hey.” 

Steve’s voice dragged you out of your head and back to the party. He grinned at you as he knocked your knees together. When did he come over and sit next to you? You were so lost in thought of losing him you hadn’t noticed when he joined you on the couch. 

“You gonna come out of your hiding spot on the couch here?”

“What? ” You asked as if you hadn’t spent the entire night glued to the corner of the couch and avoiding him at all costs. You were absolutely hiding, and it was one hundred percent because of him.  

“I’m not hiding. I’m just not overly enjoying the party like some people.” 

You raised your brow and nodded towards the beer in his hand. It was easily his seventh, not that you were paying attention to anything he was doing tonight. He could do whatever or whoever he wanted. It was none of your business, and you didn’t care.

You. Didn’t. Care.

“Hey! It’s our last semester of undergrad. I’m just letting loose a bit. Come hang out with me, Y/n. We started this together. We have to end it together.” He reached out and took your hand in his, his face going earnest. 

“If I profane with my unworthiest hand-”

“Oh, my God.” You laughed over the loud music and yanked your hand away from his. “That doesn’t work on me anymore, and you have got to stop. You’re embarrassing.”

Steve held his hand to his chest, feigning offense that you would even suggest he forget that monumental moment in your relationship, the moment your love was born as he liked to remind you. 

“Uh, no, I don’t.” He said.  “You’re the Juliet to my Romeo. Until the end of time, pebbles.”

You visibly flinched at the nickname, but thankfully Steve was too buzzed to notice. He’s been calling you pebbles for so long you forgot how it even started. Now, you wish he would call you anything but that because every time he does, you can feel another crack splintering through your already fractured heart.

“Steve. It was our freshman year. You really have to get over it.”

Steve grinned and shook his head, his tone going completely serious, “I can’t, it was the best kiss of my life.”

Your breath caught in your throat, and there was another crack added to the broken mess you call a heart.  How could Steve say something so callously? Something that meant that much to you was just a joke to him. 

“I’m sure your girlfriend loves to hear that.” You whispered soft enough that he wouldn’t catch it in his inebriated state.

“Please get your butt off this couch and come talk to me!  We hardly hang out anymore, and next year you’re gonna be in grad school, and I’ll be a starving artist with no money. We will have even less time together.” He chewed his bottom lip looking genuinely distressed for a moment. 

“Please.  I miss spending time with you.”

“We talk all the time, Steve...”

“I didn’t want to do this,” He said, looking not at all sorry about what he was about to say. “But you’ve forced my hand. If you don’t get up and come spend time with…” He blew out a long breath and looked at you with determination. 

“I’ll break down in tears right now.”

“Okay, okay!” You rushed out as you slapped a hand over his mouth. “Don’t cry, you, big baby. I’ll join the party. I’ll be a joiner. Happy?”   

“Yes!” He jumped up and kissed your cheek. “You’ve got no idea how happy you just made me, pebbles.” 

Steve jogged back over to Sharon and wrapped an arm around her waist, whispering something in her ear that made her smile. You forced yourself to stand on your shaking legs, and somehow you put one foot in front of the other despite the way it made your stomach churn to be this close to them. You’ve always done whatever you could to make Steve happy, and you doubted that would ever change. It didn’t matter how much it was going to hurt because, at the end of the day, you would follow Steve Rogers anywhere.

Bucky hovered around you for the rest of the night. It was like he could sense something was off. That or you weren’t quite as good at hiding your feelings these last four years as you thought you were. It also could have had something to do with the four shots you put back with rapid-fire when Sharon kissed Steve. At some point, right around the time, Sharon sat on Steve’s lap; you completely lost it. You snatched a bottle of vodka and disappeared upstairs.  

It took a long time for Bucky to find you after you vanished. Turned out, hiding in the upstairs storage closet, the frat never used was a good place to lay low and destroy your liver. By the time he figured out where you were, you had polished off over half the bottle you had plucked from the temporary bar they had set up at the foot of the stairs. 

Who needed a chaser anyway?

Bucky dropped down to a squat in front of you, his elbows resting on his knees as he looked you over. He’s never seen you like this before, you looked like death if he was honest, but he didn’t think it was the best time to voice that out loud. This was not the kind of hangover you would be walking off in the morning, but wasn’t that out loud wasn’t going to help anyone.

“Why don’t we go get you some water and maybe eat something to soak all that up?”

“No. I don’t want to.” You slurred as he reached over and yanked the bottle out of your hands before you had a chance to take another sip.

“Too damn bad, Y/n.” He snapped, his tone harsher than he meant, but he was worried. You're usually the smart one out of the group, and he was concerned at how quickly you fell apart. The tears that promptly filled your eyes only made him fret more.

“Why aren’t I good enough, Bucky? What d-does she have that I don’t?” You whispered, forcing your eyes closed as if that would stop your tears. “Why doesn’t he love me? I love him with my whole heart, and that’s not enough.” 

Bucky slipped his arms under your legs and lifted you up, letting you hide your face in his chest to keep your tears hidden if you wanted to, and you did, from him and from yourself.

“Come on. Deep breaths.” Bucky soothed. “You don’t need to be out here like this. It will all be okay in the morning. I promise, Y/n. Everything will be okay tomorrow.”

Steve was starting to get worried. It had been thirty minutes since he last saw you, and while no one he knew would hurt you, the party was huge, and he didn’t know more than half the people there. He had left Sharon on the couch or somewhere, he wasn’t sure. She was with friends. He just knew he had to find you and make sure you were okay. He got to the top of the stairs just in time to watch as Bucky carried you into his room. Steve knew you didn’t love him. You could never love him the way he loved you, but did you have to fall for his best friend? He’s sat on the sidelines for years and never said a word about every terrible guy you’ve dated, but he couldn’t hold back and watch you love Bucky.

He wouldn’t survive it.

**\---------------------------**

The sun rising felt like a personal attack. The bright light streaming into Bucky’s bedroom was making your head spin more than it already was from the amount of vodka still in your system, and the way the bright rays were warming his room only added to the heat you already feeling. It made you feel like the entire place was on fire, and you were lying on a bed of hot coals. It was unquestionably your punishment for being so incredibly stupid.

You slowly sat up and swung your legs over the edge of the bed wincing at the way the room started to spin as you did. You dropped your head in your hands, and that was when you remembered you went to sleep in your clothes from last night. That meant you would have to walk back across the quad in your wrinkled outfit, doing the walk of shame, and you didn’t even do anything to be ashamed of! 

Well, excluding the getting trashed in a storage closet.

Today was already the absolute worst, and you’ve been awake for five seconds.

The sound of the door being quietly opened and shut hit your ears, but you couldn’t look at him. If you did, Bucky’s floor would be covered in whatever it was you had eaten last night, and he would never take care of you again. A bottle of water and a protein bar were shoved your face and a gruff voice from above you instructed, “Eat. At least half the bar and drink all the water. I’ll grab you some clothes.”

You reach out slowly and grab the water, tossing the bar on the bed. The water felt amazing on your dry throat. It might have been the best water you’ve had in your life, but you were hungover, so you will have to re-evaluate once you didn’t feel like you got hit my truck and were dragged for seventeen miles.

“Listen--”

“Please don’t,” You said without daring to look at Bucky. “I know you know. I can’t talk about it. It hurts too much.”

Bucky dropped one of his black shirts on the bed and a jacket. You could at least look like you spent the night at your boyfriends and wasn’t some random one night stand who got kicked out first thing in the morning.

“Please don’t tell him.” You whimpered. “Please, I’m begging Buck.”

“I won’t say anything, but you should.”

“Oh, sure. I’ll walk right up to Steve and tell him I’ve been in love with him since we did that stupid play freshman year, and then he can tell me how far out of my league he actually is.” You grab his shirt off the bed and pull it on over your worn tank top. 

“Oh, and bonus feature, after he explains that guys like him don’t fall for girls like me, he can remind me how he’s in love with my roommate.”

Bucky snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. “He’s not in love with Sharon Carter. They aren’t even dating. He's just an idiot.”

You took another gulp of your water, drowning the bottle as you stood looking for your shoes. Bucky slid your sandals across the floor towards you. 

“I think you need to have a chat with your best friend.” You said as you slipped your shoes on. “Sharon walks around our apartment, gushing constantly. Steve is all she talks about. He’s meeting her parents tomorrow. You know that, right? She just goes on and on about how in love she is.”

“Love isn’t always two-sided, Y/n.” Bucky winced when he realized what he said, but it was too late. It was out in the air, and by the look on your face, it was the wrong thing to say.

“Trust me. I know that better than anyone.” You leaned over and kissed his cheek, partly in thanks and partly to let him know it was okay. Bad timing, wrong wording. He meant well. 

“Thanks for taking care of me and letting me crash here.”  

“Y/n, wait --”

“I just want to get home and sleep, okay?” 

You whimpered on the verge of tears again.  He nodded and told you to call him when you got home, so he didn’t have to stalker call you like a crazy ex to make sure you made it back safely. You slowly crept out of his bedroom in hopes that everyone would still be passed out. From the amount of alcohol that was consumed on the premise, that was an excellent chance. Tony was passed out face down on the couch surrounded by red plastic cups, and he had no pants on. Typical. Pepper was going to kill him. You had to step over Peter at the bottom steps. Poor dude could never hold his liquor. You had almost made it when a deep voice, you know better than your own beckoned from behind you.   

“So what?” Steve asked, his voice was hard and angry. “You just sleep around now?”

His question made your blood run cold, and suddenly your hangover was cured. Your blinding headache and nausea were replaced with irrational rage. Steve fuck-every-girl-I-meet Rogers was mad at you? There was no way you were letting him get away with that bullshit. 

“Excuse me?” You challenged as you turned around to face him, giving him a chance to back peddle.

Steve pointed to your attire or lack thereof. You looked down at Bucky’s shirt, and for a moment, you’re embarrassed and a little mad at yourself. You shouldn’t be wearing his shirt. That was dumb of you. Natasha could quite literally beat the crap out of you for wearing her boyfriend's clothes, but the way Steve was looking at you?  You would deal with your potential beating later because the look on Steve’s face made you furious.

How many times have you had to watch him come out of Sharon’s room in just his sweats? Or that time he came out with only that itty bitty towel on!

“Fuck you, Steve.”

Not your best comeback, admittedly. But it was all your hungover brain could think of. Steve’s was better.

“I think I have to get in line behind Bucky. Or is the line bigger than just him? Sam is upstairs. Tony on the list too? I think he’s gotten serious with Pepper, though, so you may have missed your chance. I’m sure when Pietro gets back from training, you can have your shot at him.” 

He hated every single thing that was coming out of his mouth, but he couldn’t stop it. It was the worst case of word vomit he’s ever had in his life. His brain and his heart kept telling him to shut the hell up, but his dumb jealous mouth just kept going.

“You know what Steve?”

“What?” Steve snapped.

“You’re an asshole.” You spat, not even bothering to hide the tears that had started to fall.

“Shit.” He mumbled as he reached out to try to stop you from leaving. 

“Y/n--” 

You jerked your arm away from and pulled the front door open, slamming it behind you without another word. There was nothing else you needed to say, and you couldn’t stand to look at him a moment longer.

“Well, that was real fuckin’ smooth, pal,” Bucky said as he hit the bottom step. He gracefully stepped over Peter, who had managed to stay unconscious throughout all the yelling. Steve looked back at the guy who was supposed to be his best friend, but best friends didn’t sleep with the girl you were in love with, and Bucky knew he  _knew_  how Steve felt.

“Y/n? Really?” He demanded, anger and jealousy clouding his judgment.

Bucky stopped short on his way to the kitchen and spun back around to face Steve. There was no way Steve was insinuating what Bucky thought he was insinuating. He couldn’t be that stupid. 

“What the hell are you trying to get at Steve?”

“You have your pick of girls is what I’m getting at!” He shouted loud enough to startle Peter awake. Peter sat up and slowly pulled a pair of boxers off his face to relieve a sharpie drawn penis on his cheek. Steve walked past him only focused on what Bucky did with Y/n the night before to notice Peter at all.

“You could probably get anyone you wanted, and you had to go after her? You know how I feel about her!”

Okay, Bucky was wrong. He was that stupid.

“Yeah, I do. So why don’t you explain why Sharon Carter is sleeping in your bed right now?” 

Bucky knew it was a low blow, but he really wanted to know what Steve was doing with Sharon. Everyone knew Steve was too caught up in Y/n to really commit to anyone else, everyone but her it seemed, so he hops from girl to girl like the dumbass he was. And yet, Bucky still couldn’t figure out why Steve was wasting his time fooling around with Sharon, and from the looks of things, Steve didn’t know why either.

“Just stay away from Y/n. Please.”

“You’re an idiot, Steve.”

 **\---------------------------**  

Somehow you had managed to avoid Steve all day even though you had three classes together. At first, he thought it had just worked out that way. He was late to your first class, and then you were late to the second, but when you got to your last lecture of the day, and you walked right by the seat he had saved for you to sit next to Bucky, he knew you were pissed.

How was he supposed to say sorry if you wouldn't even talk to him?

“Y/n,” he tried as you passed by him on your way out the door when class ended. 

Steve sighed and jumped up from his chair, nearly sending it across the room as he chased after you. He was so focused on getting you to talk to him he left his bag and his sketchbooks on the table. 

None of it mattered without you anyway.  

Damn, you were fast when you were trying to avoid him. Steve looked around the quad, and you were nearly halfway across already. He ignored Bucky calling after him and sprinted across the grass to get you. 

“Y/n, would you stop and talk to me.” He begged desperately. “I’m trying to say I’m sorry! I hate that I hurt your feelings, and I can’t stand you ignoring me.”

You spun around, startling him enough to halt his movements. “And why would you care if I’m ignoring you? If you really want to do this here in front of everyone. Fine. Let’s do this. Why do you care if I’m sleeping with Bucky? Why does that bother you so much?”

"Because he’s my best friend!” Steve shouted, his frustration finally coming through.  “I just thought-- I get it, okay? You're not in love with me, and you’re never going to be. I can suck it up and push my feelings aside because I’d rather be just friends than lose you completely, but you can't ask me to watch you fall in love with my best friend. I can't watch you have everything I want with him."

You couldn’t feel your face. You were having a stroke in the middle of the quad in front of all these people. An actual stroke. That was the only explanation because there was no way Steven Grant Rogers was telling you he was in love with you. Not only that, but he was in love with you and thought you couldn’t possibly love him back. Your heart was telling you to drop everything and kiss the big stupid idiot, but there was one tall, leggy problem standing in your way, and Steve was dating her.

"Please don't ask me to do that, Y/n." 

You blinked at the sound of his pitiful pleas refocusing on the heartbroken man before you. If he hadn’t of been an utter asshole to you yesterday, you might feel sorry for him, but right now, you’re just angry and over the whole awful situation.

"You’re so stupid.” You said, catching him off guard. 

“I've been in love with you for years, Steve.  _Years_. I watched you date Peggy and then Sharon and have that fling with Wanda, and I sat here and waited, hoping you would finally see me, and you never did."

"Y/n--"

"No,” you said, cutting off whatever pathetic excuse he was working up in that pretty head. “I don’t want to hear it. It's too late. You blew it. You don't get to tell me you're in love with me and think I’m going to do whatever you want because you finally had the balls to tell me how you feel. You don’t get to tell me who I can and can't be in love with when you're dating my roommate.”

"You're-- You're in love with Bucky?" Steve gulped.

"Yes." 

You let the lie roll off your tongue so easily it stunned more than Steve.

"Oh." 

Steve took a step back from you as if he was putting space between you because you were suddenly spoken for matters. His eyes dropped to the ground, his jaw clenched, and his whole body went stiff -- hiding away whatever he was feeling.  

You puffed out your chest and straightened your shoulders, throwing your well-built wall up. It was too late to take it back now, and it didn’t matter anyway. Steve was only jealous. It wasn’t love. There was a big difference between the two, and you were pretty sure Steve didn’t love you. 

"You should go. Don't you have to meet her parents for dinner tonight? It’s the big dinner. Meeting the folks and all that. Only a matter time before you’re asking the big question,” You replied, coldly.

Steve felt his stomach lurch at the thought of asking for Sharon's hand or anyone else's hand. The idea of marrying anyone, but you felt like the worst kind of life sentence he never wanted to deserve. 

"How did you know about dinner?" he lamented.

Out of everything, you said that’s what he was upset about? You just told him you have been in love with him for years and he was worried about how you found out about his secret dinner.  Maybe he wasn’t the man you thought he was.

"Sharon told me last night. She’s really excited."

"I'm sorry. I messed everything up, Y/n.”

You didn’t have a response to that. What should you say? It was okay that he ruined everything. That you were fine sitting on the sidelines watching him with Sharon all while knowing he has supposedly been in love with you and never said anything. 

"I’ve got dinner plans. Good luck tonight. I’m sure they will love you,” you hesitated for a moment, turned and moved in the direction of your apartment. Your brain was telling you to speed up, so Steve didn’t have a chance to follow you, but your heart was hoping he would follow you.

Dumb heart. It was always asking for trouble.  

Bucky walked over as your figured disappeared in the crowd of people and slapped Steve’s sketchbook against his chest, forcing him to take them. He dropped Steve’s bag in front of his feet and bumped shoulders with him. Bucky had missed most of the conversation, but by the look on Steve’s face and the way everyone around them was staring, it hadn’t gone well.

“Come on, Stevie,” he proposed, pushing him towards the direction of their fraternity.

“How did you win her over?” Steve challenged with a huff. “Because I’ve been trying for years and I have never been good enough.”

“Pal, I've got no idea what you're talking about,” Bucky countered.

"You slept with Y/n last night. You're in love. Congratulations. She's all yours. I just don’t get it. I thought--” He shook his head and jerked his bag off the ground.

“Don’t you have to get back to take Y/n out tonight?”

“Man,” Bucky whistled and let out a long sigh."All these years later and you still know nothing about women. I never slept with Y/n, and she’s definitely not in love. Not with me, anyway.”

"Buck, she came out of your room in your clothes,” Steve said in a matter of fact tone as if he had it all figured out. “I may not know much about women, but that’s one thing I’ve got down.”

"Nothing happened at the party. Y/n was wasted. I helped her into my bed to make sure she was safe. Sleeping with her wasn't on the table. She was so out of it; there was no way she would have consented even I had wanted to sleep with her, which I didn’t."

"You don't have to lie,” Steve snorted. “She told me she's in love with you too."

"Stevie. I've never lied to you.” Bucky said evenly. “I'm telling you the truth. She was drunk and crying over your stupid ass. I've been dating Tasha for about three months, and Y/n is the only one that knows. I’m pretty sure she said that to piss you off.”

"You're dating Nat?"

"Yeah."

"But--"

"Y/n is in love with you, and if you keep acting like a giant dumbass, you’re going to lose her for good. And to be clear, she doesn’t have a date. She’s meeting with that guy to talk about the internship and masters program in Boston tonight.”

 _Shit_.

 **\---------------------------**  

Steve was positive; he has never run that fast in his life. He sprinted back to drop off his sketchbooks, which were full of nothing but sketches of you. After the tenth unanswered phone call, Steve couldn’t wait till you got home and told him you were leaving him to move to Boston. He couldn’t sit back and wait to hear he has really lost you. He grabbed his phone and keys and dashed to the apartment you shared with Sharon, not even bothering to change out of his jeans and grey paint-stained sweatshirt. 

You always did like this sweater.

“Steve,” Sharon beamed as she answered the door. Her grin was slowly replaced with a deep frown when she took in his attire, and she actually wrinkled his nose at the backward baseball cap he had grabbed on his way out the door.

“You’re not dressed. What are you wearing?”

“Where is Y/n?” Steve panted, ignoring her question completely. He pushed past her and made his way to your bedroom door, rapping his knuckles against the painted wood.

“Y/n! Open up. We need to talk. Please.” He pleaded, desperation seeping into his voice.

"Steve? We have to meet my parents in under an hour.”

Steve turned around to see Sharon standing in front of him in a form-fitting knee-length bright red dress, she did that smokey thing to her eyes that Steve liked, and her hair was pulled up in something that he was sure had taken her hours. She looked beautiful, but all Steve could think at that moment, you never had to try that hard to look that beautiful.

"I can’t go. This has nothing to do with you. I'm sorry. I'm in love with someone else, and she loves me, or at least I hope she still does."  He fished his phone out of his pocket, trying your number again as he heads for the door. There were a few places close by he knew you liked so he could start there.

“It’s Y/n, isn’t it?” 

Steve blinked, pausing for a second, but he finally nodded. Sharon sighed and motioned towards the memo board on the wall, the place where you left each other little notes, and you had left Sharon a scribbled message before you left that morning. 

“She’s at Blue Note on 3rd. Meeting with that guy about moving to Boston.”

Steve’s eye fell on your message, and his heart gained another chip.

_Dinner @ Blue Note for Boston at 7pm. Have fun with your parents. I’m sure they will love Steve as much as you do._

He gave Sharon an apologetic smile that she shrugged off. She knew for a while and selfishly hoped she was wrong. Turned out, she was right all along, and Steve was the only one that missed every single sign.

“Thank you,” Steve whispered, rushing out the door. It was only twenty past seven. If he hurried, he could get there before it was too late.

 **\---------------------------**  

The interview had gone awful. Just awful. The internship was nothing like you thought it would be and to top it off; the only thing you could think about was Steve. Dumb, beautiful Steve, standing in front of you, telling you he loved you. Truthfully, the only reason you wanted to take that awful internship in Boston was to get away from Steve, and running away seemed ridiculous now. He couldn’t kick you out of your own city because he was a jerk. 

It’s a big city. What are the odds you would even run into him anyway?

You stepped out of Blue Note only to find Steve standing on the sidewalk, hand shoved in his pockets looking every bit the eighteen-year-old boy you fell in love with four years ago. 

So much for never running into each other.

"Hi,” you said, lamely.

"Hey,” Steve said, hushed, staring at you.

You looked up and down the sidewalk looking for Sharon or even one of the guys, but there was no sign he was with anyone. 

"I don't... I don't understand.” You stuttered, looking back at him, ‘What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for you."  

"I--"

“I'm here for you, Y/n.” He stepped closer. “It took me too damn long to admit my feelings. I'm the poster kid for waiting too long, but I can’t let you leave until you hear what I have to say. I know you deserve so much better than me, but if you give me a chance, I’ll do whatever it takes to show you falling in love with me wasn’t a mistake, pebbles.”

“I have to go. I-- I can’t listen to this right now.”

The last thing you wanted to do was this conversation on the street. You pushed past Steve and started down the busy sidewalk, unsure if you were even heading towards your car or not. It didn’t matter. You needed to be away from him before you both said something else you didn’t mean or worse, something you did.

“Do you remember the day you sat down in the seat next to me our freshman year?” 

You slowly came to a standstill and turned around as Steve stepped towards you. 

“Because I do. I remember every second of that moment. It replays over and over again in my head.” He paused in front of you and reached out, enveloping his fingers around your wrist. His way of testing the waters, seeing how much damage he had done. You didn’t pull away or yell at him, so he pushed on.

“You pulled out five or six pens, maybe more, and set them on the table in front of you. When I asked if you had any extra, I could borrow, you perked up and handed me one, genuinely happy you had one to give me. Joke went right over your head, and you looked so adorable, holding the pen out for me to take. You were smiling with that adorable smile you do when you’re excited about something, I couldn’t fess up. So I used the damn thing even though I didn’t need it.”

You pursed your lips but leaned into his warmth -- only slightly, “You never said you were making fun of me. I was trying to help you.”

Steve grinned and tugged gently on your wrist until you were flush against him, “That was the moment I knew I was going to fall for you. I didn’t know I was going to fall this hard, but I knew right then I was going to love you the rest of my life.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” You relented, tugging harshly on the strings of his sweatshirt. “And why date my roommate of all people?”

“I never thought you could fall for someone like me,” He shrugged. “And I’m an idiot. Did I not mention that?”

“We all got that memo long ago.” 

You giggled when he pinched your side. A soft kiss landed on the side of your head, and a quiet apology reached your ears. You knew you probably shouldn’t forgive him so quickly, but you weren’t exactly blameless in all this. If you could have fessed up to how you felt all those years ago, none of this would have happened.

You were both to blame for the mess you were in.

“Are you really going to Boston?” He asked, solemnly. You opened your mouth to answer, but he kept going. “Because it’s okay! I want you to have everything you want. I looked it up on the way here, and it turns out Boston has a pretty good art scene. Google says so it must be true. I don’t need to be in Brooklyn, and I don’t need the guys or Buck. I do need you, though.”

Those blue eyes shining back at you genuine and earnest, and they had your tongue-tied, stumbling over the hundreds of thoughts that were racing around your head. Could you really leave Brooklyn and ask Steve to go with you?

“Just say the word, and I’ll pack my stuff.” He continued. “I’d follow you anywhere, pebbles.”

No. No, you couldn't do that.

“What if I don’t want you to follow me?”

His face slowly fell and his arms slowly released you, “I--”

“What if--” You grabbed his hands and laced your fingers together, ignoring the strange looks you were getting the people passing you on the street. “What if I wanna stay right here? What if I want to get a place in Brooklyn, finish my masters here, and maybe get a dog? And what if I wanna do all of that... with you?”

Steve’s face lit up, and his hold tightened on your hands, thumbs drawing soft circles on your skin. He could definitely get behind that idea.

“We can do that. We can get a dog.” Steve promised, grinning like a fool. “How many dogs you want, baby? I’ll get you all the dogs.” He leaned forward until his lips hovered over yours, wearing that dumb smirk that made your heart skip a beat.

“You’re so stupid, Rogers.” You said, breathlessly.

“Yeah,” He agreed. “But I’m your stupid.”  

Steve leaned in and captured your lips swiftly. It was new but so familiar like you had kissed him a hundred times before, but your lips have only touched once. He made enough of a fool of himself in public today, so his lips didn’t linger on yours for long, but it still left you speechless when he pulled back.

“Yeah,” He confirmed with a light sigh. “Hands down the best kiss of my life.” 


End file.
